'700 dead' in Uzbek violence

The unconfirmed death toll in Uzbekistan from a suspected crackdown by security forces on demonstrators rose to more than 700 people today after fresh reports of killings.

Government troops are suspected of killing some 500 protesters on Friday while putting down an uprising in the eastern city of Andijan, which is close to the country's border with Kyrgyzstan.

Today the head of a human rights group claimed that another 200 people were killed in a nearby town after the unrest spread from Andijan a day later.

Saidjahon Zaynabitdinov, head of the Appeal human rights advocacy group, said government troops had killed about 200 demonstrators on Saturday in Pakhtabad, which is about 18 miles north-east of Andijan, and there have been reports of unrest in other towns.

Tonight the US hardened its stance with the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, calling for political reform in Uzbekistan, which is an ally. Speaking to reporters as she flew home from her trip to Iraq, Ms Rice said: "We have been encouraging the Karimov government to make reforms, to make the system more open, to make it possible for people to have a political life."

In the strongest comments yet on Uzbekistan by a US official, she said the country needed "pressure valves that come from a more open political system", Reuters reported.

If the reports of more than 700 deaths since Friday are accurate and if Uzbek forces were behind the killing - as most reports indicate - the crackdown would be among the most violent in Asia since the massacre of protesters in China's Tiananmen Square in 1989.

The spreading unrest in the region - the worst since Uzbekistan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 - left 11 people dead in clashes yesterday in a third town and sparked a rampage by residents in a fourth on Saturday, witnesses said.

The government of President Islam Karimov has denied that security forces opened fire on demonstrators as witnesses have claimed. The situation on the ground is unclear because the government has sought to restrict access for reporters in the affected areas.

Mr Karimov said 10 soldiers and "many more" protesters were killed in Andijan. There were demonstrations in the city over the trial of 23 local businessmen who are accused of Islamic extremism. The government blamed Islamic extremism for the violence but critics argue the president is using the threat of extremism as a cover to crush opposition.

Speaking in London, the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, today repeated his condemnation of the violence and urged the authorities in Uzbekistan to "show restraint".

Mr Straw said his Uzbek counterpart had pledged to allow diplomats access to Andijan tomorrow and that the British ambassador was meeting Uzbek officials to push for the Red Cross and other foreign observers to be allowed into the area.

Mr Straw said: "I am extremely concerned by reports that Uzbek troops opened fire on demonstrators in Andijan. I totally condemn these actions and I urge the Uzbek authorities to show restraint in dealing with the situation and look for a way to resolve it peacefully."

The violence has put the UK and the US in a delicate position diplomatically because Uzbekistan is normally perceived as an ally. Mr Straw's condemnatory remarks yesterday drew criticism from the Uzbek government.

A local doctor in Andijan told the Associated Press yesterday that about 500 bodies had been laid out at a school in Andijan for collection by relatives.

Tensions remained high in Andijan today. Gunfire was heard overnight and the city has reportedly been sealed off. The BBC reported that the nearby town of Korasuv, where locals seized control on Saturday, was also sealed off today. Some refugees near Korasuv said troops shot at them as they tried to cross the border into Kyrgyzstan and some died.

Around 150 Uzbek refugees trying to flee were today turned back by Kyrgyz authorities, who also warned they could quickly deport others who had previously crossed the border. A UN official said he had received reports about a skirmish in the border area today between a large group of Uzbek militants trying to cross into Kyrgyzstan and Uzbek government forces.

There were also reports that thousands of refugees today converged on a border crossing at the village of Barash, about 30 miles north of Andija. More than 500 made it to Kyrgyzstan, setting up a tent camp in a field just across the border.

Meanwhile, in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, several human rights activists and opposition politicians laid flowers at a monument to commemorate the victims of last week's violence in Andijan.